Etc...

August 25, 2004

By Compiled from wire service reports by Robert Kilborn and Ross Atkin

Then there's the food bill

With another academic year just around the corner, a new Royal Bank of Scotland survey of 2,163 college students - in this case in Britain - has found that they spend three times as much money annually on adult beverages as they do on books: $1.8 billion, compared to $600 million.

Get money out of politics? Well, perhaps next time

Fund-raising success often equates to Election Day success, which is why politicians are forever looking to fatten their campaign war chests. Last week, The Federal Election Commission reported that congressional candidates already had spent at least $487 million - or $130 million more than was spent at the same point in the 2002 races. The top fundraisers among current House and Senate candidates, their parties, receipts (in millions of dollars), and the state in which each is running: